Re: electrostatic shielding

[John Mallinckrodt <ajmallinckro@CSUPOMONA.EDU>]

On Sat, 3 Feb 2001, Ludwik Kowalski wrote:

> Intuitively I would expect the opposite. For a thinner disk
> more of the total Q will be near the edge. I am assuming
> that the edge is a circle (radius=0.5*thickness). For a very
> thin disk the E near the edges will result in a corona flow,
> like from a needle. Is this wrong?

No, but neither is there a contradiction with Leigh's point.
Clearly in the limit that the disk is very "thick" (e.g., a long
wire), almost all of the charge will be near--and, in fact,
on--"the edge."

John Mallinckrodt      mailto:ajm@csupomona.edu
Cal Poly Pomona          http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm